DARPA, the government’s mad science lab, is at it again, and this time they’ve invented a video camera that can broadcast a 4.5 mile swath of land.

DARPA

Why, beyond the fact that somebody drunkenly bet a DARPA scientist they couldn’t do this? In modern warfare, the government needs as much information about the battlefield as possible: Who is where, who might be hiding where, and what they might be armed with.

ARGUS-IS, this video system, not only offers a big canvas to observe, it also offers a resolution accurate to six inches on the ground. It pulls this off by stitching together dozens of images into one coherent video image.

So military commanders will not only have an expansive view of the battlefield, they’ll also be able to check out zits on the enemy, if they feel like it.

It’s not perfect: It’ll only operate at twelve frames a second right now, because really, they need real-time updates, not vivid HD graphics. But it’s a pretty awesome camera that’ll save American lives, and that’s a neat gadget in our book.

About Dan Seitz...
Dan Seitz is a semi-professional nerd (he'll have to code a homebrew game for the NES before he goes pro). He grew up fiddling with video game systems, computers, cameras, and other technology you should never hand to an eight-year-old if you want it back in pristine condition. Currently, he lives in Boston with his girlfriend, her cat, a Shih Tzu, and far too many objects with processors.